Why Margot Robbie Chose Birds Of Prey Movie Over Gotham City Sirens

Margot Robbie reveals the reason she opted to make Birds of Prey instead of Gotham City Sirens. Robbie joined the DC Extended Universe in 2016’s Suicide Squad, a poorly received film that still managed to be a box office hit. Robbie’s role as Harley Quinn is often cited as one of the highlights of Suicide Squad, and following its release, Warner Bros. quickly put several films in development for her. One of those was Gotham City Sirens, which would see Harley team up with characters like Catwoman and Poison Ivy. However, fans were surprised when it was announced she would instead star in Birds of Prey, while Gotham City Sirens was placed on hold.

Opening on February 7, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) follows Harley after she’s broken up with the Joker and is looking for a new place in the world. She soon joins forces with Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to protect young Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) from the sadistic Roman Sionis/Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Birds of Prey will be the first R-rated DCEU flick.

While speaking to Nerdist about Birds of Prey‘s journey to the big screen, Robbie discussed why she wanted to make this film over Gotham City Sirens. The decision, she explained, came from her realization that Harley had such a massive fan base. Robbie said:

Whilst I was researching the character I started to read Birds of Prey and first I fell in love with Huntress, and I started looking into all of that. I was like, ‘Wow, there’s so many cool female DC characters and no one knows anything about any of them!’ So what if we had a platform for fans to get to know and fall in love with some of these other amazing women? Focusing on the Gotham City Sirens, there were only three of us and we were all well known, whereas with Birds of Prey you can pick any grouping for that, and I thought that might be the perfect platform to introduce some female characters who might really have some legs in the DC Universe.

Robbie’s rationale makes perfect sense, though it might not completely appease fans who have taken issue with Harley joining the Birds of Prey on screen when she never did in the comics. With the marketing placing special attention on Harley, many have wondered if Birds of Prey is supposed to be an ensemble film or a Harley Quinn film. Director Cathy Yan insisted that it is an ensemble film where each of the characters “feel like leads.”

Robbie’s decision to put a spotlight on lesser-known DC characters is admirable, especially considering those lesser-known characters are women. There’s been a greater push in recent years for more female characters in comic book movies, and Birds of Prey is only the latest project to put them front and center. While Birds of Prey is tracking to have a smaller opening than other DCEU films, the fact that it got made at all is quite the feat. It shows how far things have come, and how much farther they can still go. Fans will get the opportunity to see Birds of Prey for themselves next week and decide if they’re glad Robbie chose them over the Sirens.